European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany

Research

Julia Mahahmid pioneered methods of cryo-electron tomography for in-cell structural biology. She significantly contributed to the development of cryo-focused ion beam to make parts of a cell transparent to electrons. Through such “windows” it is now possible to visualize 3D macromolecular structures in their native environment at a level of detail that enables mechanistic insights. Her research group has resolved structures of transcribing RNA polymerases and translating bacterial ribosomes and showed how antibiotics reshape translational landscapes. Recently, they developed a correlative light and electron microscopy imaging approach with which they can follow growing 3D organoid cultures at the millimeter-scale and analyze their subcellular architecture down to the nanometer-scale. Her methods thus unlock an enormous potential for new discoveries through label-free in-cell structural biology.

Academic Career

Julia Mahamid studied biology at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and obtained her PhD in structural chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot in 2010. After postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany, she moved to a group leader position at EMBL in Heidelberg. She is the recipient of the Ernst Ruska Prize of the German Society for Electron Microscopy, the EMBO Gold Medal, the Kate Bárány Award of the Biophysical Society, and ERC Starting and Synergy Grants. She is an EMBO Member.